Page 16 of Steve's Barmaid
“No, but I also don’t want to be awake right now,” he complained.
“Are you sure about staying here for the season?” I asked. “I won’t be hurt if you decide to head back. We just agreed to a solid few months of hard labor.”
“You know I don’t like being stuck up at Snaerfírar. When I became a guard member, I thought I would see more action than the wayward bjorn that wandered into our territory. Plus, I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“You know, at some point, you will have to give up trying to protect me.”
Reykr had been my rock for the last ten árs, but I didn’t want him to stay just because of me. I felt at ease in Fýrifírar and didn’t need his protection.
“Já, I know,” He said. “But it isn’t now. Not while we’re in an unfamiliar tribe and you are surrounded by the unknown.” His tone was clipped.
With that, the conversation was done. I wasn’t mad about Reykr staying, but I wanted him to stay because he wanted to, not because of any sense of obligation to me.
I attempted to change the conversation. “They told us to stop by the kitchens and get something to eat before heading to the bar. We can grab Berit and Tyr on the way.”
It wasn’t long before we stood in front of the dilapidated bar. The inside might be sparkling clean thanks to Billie’s efforts, but a lot more work needed to be done on the exterior and the interior before the bar could be up and running. From the looks of it, the roof needed to be repaired—if not replaced. Several window panes were missing, and most of the furniture wasn’t salvageable.
I wandered through the property, looking for Billie and Joey. The roof made the most sense to start with. Any repair that would make a mess would need to be cleaned before we worked on the inside. I didn’t have a ton of woodworking experience. All of us were taught the basics as orklings, but only the carpenters knew the finer details.
I walked back out of the bar to find my tribemates had been joined by Billie, Joey, and an older orc I hadn’t met yet. They were deep in conversation. Billie’s eyes lit up when she saw me.
“Morning! Glad to see you put some clothes on,” she teased.
I blushed. There was something about the way Billie spoke to me that made me feel warm and weird all at once. I tried to brush it off.
“Will you introduce me to…” I trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the orc that had joined us.
“I’m Osif, the head carpenter of Fýrifírar. I am helping Billie here with the bar. Now that we have more hands this should go much more quickly.” He rubbed his hands together eagerly. “So how much do you know about repairing a roof?”
“Uhh.. Not much,” I said honestly.
“That’s okay,” Billie said. “I don’t know anything about roofs and Osif promised me we would be able to manage it.”
I honestly wasn’t super pleased with how close Billie seemed to be with Osif, but I reminded myself that he was at least thirty àrs her senior and likely had a mate.
“Well, it looks as if I am going to take the lead, and that is no problem,” Osif said. “We need new materials for the roof and new panes for the windows. We are also going to need new furniture, but that is something I would rather take on by myself. So why don’t the Snaerfírar come with me to get lumber while the women clear out the attic space?”
“Um, I can lift lumber!” Joey interjected. “I’ll head with you to get lumber. Steve and Billie can start on the attic.”
“Já, I can work on the attic with Billie, if you’d rather go get lumber,” I said, trying to be as accommodating as possible. Maybe Joey just had a passion for lifting heavy objects
A look I didn’t quite understand passed between Billie and Joey, but neither said a word. Joey headed off with the rest of my tribesmates and Osif, leaving me alone with Billie. I studied heruncertainly. Was she annoyed at being left alone with me? Her cheeks were tinged pink.
“I guess we should head up to the attic?” She glanced at me.
“Alright, we can grab the cleaning supplies on the way up.”
We entered the bar and climbed up the stairs. They groaned and creaked underneath our weight. “These will need to be replaced, too,” I commented.
“Yeah, or reinforced. Along with the railing. There is a lot of work to be done.” She sighed.
“Hey, that’s one of the reasons we agreed to stay. We want to help,” I reassured her.
“I know. I want to ensure you know what you’re getting yourself into,” she said, looking around at all the repairs that needed to be done. The whole building looked as if it was sagging under the weight of dirt and grime.
“Já. None of us are master carpenters, but we’ve all come together to build new homes at Snaerfírar. We will be able to get it up and running. I can’t wait to see you behind the bar pouring drinks.”
Finally, we arrived in the attic. This wasn’t a storage attic, as I expected, but the home of the previous bar owners. There was a large bed in the corner, a small kitchen, a dining table and chairs, and a door to what I assumed was a washroom. Even the fireplace was continued up into this space.
